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With Energy Department support, French Development Enterprises, LLC, GEI Consultants, and Oldcastle Precast announced the successful construction of the first prototype of a “French Dam.”The prototype technology uses modular design—a term for structures that use multiple standardized components that integrate easily— to significantly cut construction time and cost.

The vast majority of solar modules are currently made with silicon, as the material is widely available, relatively low-cost, and able to reach high efficiencies. Today, nearly all silicon wafers for solar modules are manufactured by first transforming the raw material into silicon blocks, which are then sawed into thin wafers that are turned into solar cells and integrated into modules. But one SunShot Initiative awardee has developed a method that is changing the game.

Diesel-fueled vehicles perform many of the everyday activities needed to keep society running, from picking up garbage to repairing utility lines. However, for today’s diesel vehicles to meet the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s tailpipe emissions standards, they use a complex set of emissions controls. Filters that minimize particulate matter are one of the most commonly used forms of emission control systems. Particulate matter can reduce lung function, aggravate asthma, worsen cardiovascular disease, and harm ecosystems,

Next generation concentrating solar power (CSP) system designs use supercritical carbon dioxide (sCO2) turbine power cycles to more efficiently convert solar thermal energy to electricity and to reduce the cost of CSP technology. Because sCO2 power cycles work best at very high temperatures and under intense pressure, a CSP system needs receivers and heat exchangers that can withstand these conditions.